Amateur from St. Louis Wins EPT Copenhagen

Tim Vance, an amateur poker player from St. Louis, Missouri took a huge chip lead into the final table and emerged as the champion of the European Poker Tour Scandinavian Open, which took place in Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark. Vance qualified online for the tournament through Poker Stars. When the final table began, Vance had nearly twice as many chips as his next nearest competitor.

Patrik Andersson would be the first victim of the final table. Andersson had reraised all-in with [Kh][6c] and was the underdog to Daniel Ryan and his hand of [Ad][5c]. Needing a king or a six to survive, Andersson got not as the board read [Js][7c][5d][10s][Jh]. Andersson would earn â‚¬76,420 for finishing in eighth place.

The next to fall was Simon Dorslund, who had pushed all-in with [Ah][8d] only to find himself dominated by Tim Vance and his [Ad][Kh]. The flop fell [Jd][9c][2c], no help for Dorslund. The [10s] on the turn and the [6h] on the river were also no help, and Dorslund would leave in seventh place, earning â‚¬107,554.

Nicolas Dervaux would finish in sixth place, falling to Soren Jensen. Dervaux pushed all-in with [Js][5d] and Jensen made the call with [Ad][7d]. Dervaux took the lead when the flop fell [Ks][Jc][4d]. However, the [Ah] on the turn helped Jensen retake the lead, and the [6h] on the river finished the hand in Jensen’s favor. Nicolas Dervaux earned â‚¬135,858 for his sixth place finish.

Daniel Ryan would make his exit when he took his [As][Qs] up against Rasmus Nielsen and his [Ah][Ks]. The board bore no help for Ryan, as it came down [Jd][3s][2d][Ac][3h]. Daniel Ryan headed to the rail in fifth place, having earned â‚¬172,653.

Rasmus Nielsen would soon find himself walking to the exits after tangling with Tim Vance. Nielsen held [8c][8h] and moved in on the flop of [Jc][9s][7h]. Tim Vance made the call with [Ad][Qc]. The [Js] on the turn gave Vance no help, but the [As] on the river certainly did, providing the knockout punch that Vance needed to take out Nielsen. Rasmus Nielsen earned â‚¬209,448 for his fourth place finish.

Magnus Hansen would wind up as the third place finisher after he saw a flop with Soren Jensen. Hansen held [10d][6h] on a flop of [10s][9h][4h] for top pair, but Jensen had flopped two pair with his [9s][4s]. Jensen bet, Hansen raised, and Jensen moved all-in, eliciting a call from Hansen. The [5h] fell on the turn, giving Hansen a few more outs, but he would receive none of them when the river fell [7s]. Hansen would take home â‚¬274,547 for his third place finish.

The heads-up battle between Tim Vance and Soren Jensen turned into a grueling five-hour marathon that ended shortly before the casino was scheduled to close. The final hand started deceptively slow, as Vance limped in and Jensen checked to see a flop of [8s][7c][2c]. Both players checked and the [3s] fell on the turn. Jensen bet out here and Vance made a very quick call. The [4s] fell on the river and Jensen moved all-in. Tim Vance announced “It was nice playing with you, Sir” and made the call, showing his [As][10s] for the nut flush. Tim Vance won the first place prize of â‚¬834,964, approximately $1.2 million. Soren Jensen earned â‚¬472,675 in compensation for his second place finish.